Congressional Elections – OpenSecrets Newshttps://www.opensecrets.org/news
Breaking news, original reporting, and investigative journalism *on money in politics from the Center for Responsive PoliticsMon, 21 Jan 2019 17:07:24 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.8Ocasio-Cortez enters the House with highest portion of small contributionshttps://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/12/ocasio-cortez-enters-the-house-as-most-popular-member-with-small-donors/
Mon, 17 Dec 2018 21:24:01 +0000https://www.opensecrets.org/news/?p=29025Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got nearly 62 percent of her $2 million haul from small individual contributions, the highest rate of any House member in the 116th Congress.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a household name now, but just a few months ago she was a complete political outsider, relying almost entirely on small donors in the Bronx and Queens.

The newly-elected representative for New York’s 14th District got nearly 62 percent of her $2 million haul from small individual contributions — less than $200 — giving her the highest rate of funding from small donors of any member of the 116th House of Representatives.

Ocasio-Cortez is one of several newly-elected Democrats who did not accept any money from business-related PACs. She successfully primaried Rep. Joe Crowley — who had risen to the rank of Chair of the House Democratic Caucus — despite raising just $300,709 to his $3 million.

Data from the Center for Responsive Politics reveals the small donor club isn’t exclusive to Democrats.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) comes in third place after Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) when it comes to the percentage of funds from bite-sized contributions. The California Republican got 49 percent of his $12.5 million from small donors.

As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Nunes has painted himself as a staunch defender of President Donald Trump, going as far as telling donors that the GOP needs to protect Trump from special counsel Robert Mueller.

That reputation netted Nunes more campaign cash than he has ever had, by far, as more than half of Nunes’ career $24 million in fundraising came this cycle. It also earned Nunes a wealthy challenger. Democrat Andrew Janz wasn’t able to take down Nunes, but he raised $9 million — more than half of which came from small donors — while tying his Republican opponent to Trump.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), another well-known Trump defender, just makes the top 10, collecting nearly one-third of his $1.8 million from small contributions.

Rep.-elect Anthony Brindisi (D-N.Y.) is a unique name on the top 10 as the only candidate that was locked in a tight race. Brindisi defeated Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) by fewer than 4,000 votes in a Trump district, while raising $1.6 million from small donors.

The list of small donor favorites features some well-known fundraising gurus. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) raised $4.8 million — accounting for 37 percent of his funds — from small contributions despite sitting in a safe seat.

]]>The 2018 cycle’s biggest losers and smallest winnershttps://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/12/2018-biggest-loserssmallest-winners/
Wed, 12 Dec 2018 16:31:33 +0000https://www.opensecrets.org/news/?p=28934In more than a dozen races this cycle, the congressional candidate with twice as much money as their opponent managed to lose.

In more than a dozen races this cycle, the congressional candidate with twice as much money as their opponent managed to lose, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

In almost all such cases, cash-strapped Republican candidates in red districts defeated their much-wealthier Democratic opponents.

The most vulnerable Democratic Senators raised significantly more than their opponents by the time election day rolled around, but it wasn’t enough. The outspent Republican Senate candidates benefitted from outside spending, which somewhat offset the Democratic fundraising boom.

The one-term Senator received a rush of contributions after her opposition to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh but couldn’t spend it fast enough, ending November with nearly $6.8 million cash on hand.

Heitkamp spent nearly $170 for each vote she obtained, by far the highest number of any major Senate candidate.

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) was also a huge financial favorite, spending three-and-a-half times more than Republican challenger Josh Hawley in her losing effort. When factoring in outside money, however, McCaskill had just one-and-a-half more money behind her than Hawley.

Also among this cycle’s biggest losers was Republican New Jersey Senate candidate Bob Hugin spent $38.6 million, self-funding $36 million of his own campaign. That’s nearly triple what incumbent Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) spent to get re-elected.

Hugin’s spending spree might have taken the cake in another cycle, but Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) has him beat this time around, shelling out an all-time record $78.9 million in his unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign. Rejecting PACs, O’Rourke raised pretty much of all his money from individual donors and nearly $37 million came from small donors.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was heavily outraised, but he still managed to spend more than $45 million, the second-most of any 2018 Senate candidate and had slightly more outside money behind him.

On the House side, Democratic hopefuls capitalized on the national unpopularity of their incumbent Republican opponents by raising large sums but didn’t win enough votes in their home district.

Republican House candidates Ross Spano — who admitted to committing campaign finance violations during the election — and federally indicted Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) both won their elections despite being outraised by more than two-to-one.

Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) spent just $3.35 million through Nov. 7, the lowest number of any winning Senator, but one that should increase as fundraising numbers come in for the Nov. 27 run-off election.

Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Angus King (I-Maine) don’t get much media attention. They also didn’t get much money in 2018 as they didn’t need it, spending less than $5 million each to easily win re-election.

Representing New York’s 15th District in The Bronx — arguably the most liberal district in the nation — Rep. Jose Serrano didn’t need to do much to win his race. He spent just $231,921 this cycle or $2.06 per vote.

]]>The money behind GOP’s meager House pickupshttps://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/11/money-behind-gop-meager-pickups/
Tue, 20 Nov 2018 19:33:30 +0000https://www.opensecrets.org/news/?p=28696Boosted by a late influx of media buys from outside groups, two Minnesota Republicans accounted for two of the GOP's three pickups in the House.

Boosted by a late influx of media buys from outside groups, Republicans won in both races, taking seats formerly occupied by Democrats. Liberal groups were caught napping, spending next to nothing in the leadup to the election on the battleground races.

In the 1st District, former U.S. Treasury official Jim Hagedorn beat Democrat Dan Feehan, a veteran and former Pentagon official, by roughly 1,300 votes. Hagedorn was outraised $3.6 million to $1.4 million, but he got the bulk of outside spending support during the final stretch.

Feehan was supported by a sprinkling of digital and radio ads in that time frame by MoveOn and the Alliance for Retired Americans, but nothing from major party-aligned groups. The NRCC spent more than $3.4 million in opposition to Feehan, making him its fifth-most targeted candidate this cycle. AFA spent $1.7 million against Feehan, third-most of any House candidate.

AFA’s most popular target was 8th District candidate Joe Radinovich — former campaign manager for retiring 8th District Rep. Rick Nolan — who fell to Republican Pete Stauber, a county commissioner and retired police lieutenant. The group spent nearly $3.3 million in opposition to Radinovich,who was also hit by $3.9 million from CLF.

Democratic groups didn’t fight back, spending $2.1 million to conservative groups’ $7.5 million and seemingly sacrificing the seat while they focused on other races.

The 8th District election result was closer than the spending battle, with Stauber winning by 5.5 points.

]]>Money advantage decided most House races, proved insurmountable for California GOPhttps://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/11/money-advantage/
Thu, 15 Nov 2018 21:09:16 +0000https://www.opensecrets.org/news/?p=28616Of the 49 races called in California, just four winners had fewer dollars behind them than their opponent, showing the importance of a cash advantage.

California 48th District winner Harley Rouda mingles with supporters on election day. He raised substantially more money than his Republican incumbent opponent Dana Rohrabacher and was aided by millions in attack ads from outside groups. (Photo by Barbara Davidson/Getty Images)

With a handful of House races yet to be called, the candidate backed by more money has won exactly 90 percent of them.

That means the candidate with less financial backing — including their own campaign funds and outside spending support — has won in just 41 of 411 House races that have been decided.

Though 90 percent is a high number, it’s the lowest win rate for better-funded House candidatessince 2010.

Of the 49 races called in California, just four winners had less money behind them than their opponent. For Texas and New York, the number shrinks to three and two, respectively.

The blue wave of money convincingly crashed onto the shores of California, as Democrats outraised Republicans in nearly every race — even in likely Republican districts — and took home a number of red seats when the dust settled.

Despite raising next to nothing in the lead-up to the election because of a federal indictment, Rep. Chris Collins still outraised Democratic challenger Nate McMurray and narrowly defeated him in the 27th District. He was one of only a handful of Republicans in New York to outraise the Democratic opponent.

]]>In historic midterms, women elected left … and centerhttps://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/11/in-historic-midterms-women-elected/
Thu, 08 Nov 2018 20:52:35 +0000https://www.opensecrets.org/news/?p=28211As of Thursday, 100 women were elected to the House and 12 to the Senate, with many undecided races featuring women on the ballot yet to be called.

Congresswomen-elect Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) embrace. They are two of more than 100 women who will serve in the 116th Congress. (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

With a few races left to be certified, the number of women in Congress has already reached a historic high. On election day, more than 100 women were elected to the House and 12 to the Senate.

The increase is driven almost entirely by Democratic women. Just 13 Republican women were been elected to the House, down from 21 in 2016 and the lowest number since the 1992 midterms, when 12 Republican women were elected to the House.

At least 122 women will serve in the next Congress — a record-breaking high at 24 percent but still far from parity. Women will make up 37 percent of the Democratic members of Congress and 6 percent of Republicans.

With Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) winning re-election, a record 24 women will now serve in the upper chamber. Currently, there are a record 23 female Senators.

In an election cycle filled with several firsts for women, Congress will experience a demographic shift come January. After Tuesday, there will be at least a 17 percent increase in the number of women in the House.

Sixty-four women defeated men for seats in the House and seven for seats in the Senate.

The success of non-incumbent Democratic women was pivotal in flipping the House blue. Looking at the current races that have been called, of the 54 non-incumbent Democrats who won House seats, 63 percent are women. On the other side of the ballot, of the 32 non-incumbent Republicans who won House seats, one was a woman.

Of the 22 Democrats who defeated House incumbents so far, 64 percent are women.Perhaps the biggest upset win of the night went to a Democratic woman when Kendra Horn beat incumbent Rep. Steve Russell in Oklahoma’s 5th District.

It was a historic night for Democratic women, in what appears to be a rapid acceleration of a long-standing trend. A record 785 women ran for Congress this cycle — including 517 Democrats and 188 Republicans — making up 23 percent of congressional candidates. That’s up from 16 percent in 2016.

Many female Democratic candidates said President Donald Trump’s controversial rhetoric inspired them to run, including Mikie Sherrill, the winner in New Jersey’s formerly-red 11th Congressional District, who said Trump’s 2016 election “was a slap in the face to a lot of us.”

EMILY’s List, a Democratic group that spends to elect female candidates who support abortion rights, heard from 42,000 women who said they wanted to run for office, up from 920 in 2016.

Like with any candidate, Democratic women needed money to win their races, and they got exactly that. A sharp increase in contributions from female donors proved to benefit the Democrats on Tuesday. All of the winners who received at least half of their money from female donors — 16 so far — are Democrats, and the majority are women.

On average, nearly 41 percent of large individual contributions to winning female Democratic House candidates — accounting for more than $500,000 on average — came from women.

Successful female Republican House candidates saw a much lower ratio — 29 percent and $287,943 on average — and Republican men who won House seats got 24 percent of their funds from women.

Democratic women who won Senate seats on Tuesday almost reached parity with the gender layout of their donations — 49 percent of their contributions came from female donors on average. Female Senate winners raised $4.6 million from women and $4.8 million from men.

Looking at their Republican female counterparts who won seats in the Senate, only 29 percent of their contributions came from women.

The lax fundraising for Republican women appeared to impact their performance at the ballot box. Only eight of the 23 Republican women in the House will be returning in the 116th class of Congress, and one non-incumbent — Carol Miller in West Virginia’s 3rd District — has won so far.

Overall, women who won their races received significantly more financial support than men.

Female Senate winners averaged more than $18.3 million in financial support — including money spent by the candidate and outside spending benefitting the candidate — compared to $16.6 million for male Senate winners. Successful female House candidates benefitted from $2.5 million on average, compared to roughly $1.2 million for their opponents.

]]>Special election races resurface with new Democratic challengershttps://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/11/special-election-races-resurface/
Mon, 05 Nov 2018 21:07:23 +0000https://www.opensecrets.org/news/?p=28126The biggest special elections of 2017 and 2018 are back, but this time they each have to share the limelight with dozens of other close, crucial races.

Lucy McBath (pictured) is facing off with Rep. Karen Handel, who defeated Jon Ossoff in last year’s special election for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District seat. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)

The biggest special elections of 2017 and 2018 are back, but this time they each have to share the limelight with dozens of other close, crucial House races.

With much less national attention being paid to them, the elections aren’t drawing nearly as many dollars in outside spending. Still, Democrats — riding an enthusiastic donor base and flush with cash — are taking another swing at all of the special election districts Republicans won by slight margins.

Balderson, who is favored to win in the Republican-leaning central Ohio district, has received serious support from the GOP. More than $1 million in outside money has been spent in opposition of O’Connor since the special election and approximately $4.8 million between both elections.

Vice President Mike Pence visited Columbus to campaign for Balderson and President Donald Trump tweeted his support for the brand new congressman.

O’Connor has held the cash advantage throughout. He raised $7.3 million between the two election cycles — drawing 79 percent of his large individual contributions from out-of-state — and had $879,369 cash on hand as of Oct. 17.

Balderson, on the other hand, has collected $2.1 million in total and has $176,000 to spend.

In the most closely-watched special election and the most expensive House race in history, Rep. Karen Handel (R-Ga.) defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff by 4 points, despite being outraised $23.6 million to $4.5 million.

This time, Handel is going up against Lucy McBath, a gun control activist who tragically lost her son to gun violence. She has drawn a stunning $4.6 million in outside spending support, more than $4 million of which comes from Michael Bloomberg’s gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.

Opposition spending has also been focused on McBath, with $1.6 million dedicated to negative ads.

The two are neck-and-neck in fundraising. Handel has outraised McBath $1.9 to $1.8 million since the special election.

The race has significantly tightened as time has gone on. A Nov. 4 poll from Siena/New York Times gives McBath a two-point edge. FiveThirtyEight gives Handel a 4 in 7 chance to win.

Though Democratic opponent Robert Quist outraised Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mt.) during the 2017 special election $6.6 million to $4.8 million, Gianforte was victorious thanks in part to $5.4 million in negative advertising against Quist.

However, with little attention being paid to the Montana battle between Gianforte and Democratic state legislator Kathleen Williams, the flow of outside money has all but dried up.

It’s actually Williams, not the Republican incumbent, who is getting outside support. Independent expenditures supporting Williams add up to $230,253 and more than $194,000 has been spent in opposition to Gianforte.

Williams won a six-way Democratic primary in June, despite being outraised by her opponents. She’s raised nearly $3.3 million, compared to Gianforte’s $4.5 million haul since the special election.

This district is less competitive, as Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz) beat Democratic candidate Hiral Tipirneni by 5 points in April. Still, all of the heavy hitters, including the NRCC, CLF and the Republican National Committee spent in the race to support Lesko.

That support largely hasn’t been there for the candidates’ rematch. Lesko has received $245,398 in outside spending support and no money has been spent against her opponent.

Still, after losing in the special election, Tipirneni isn’t getting national support from Democratic groups. Of her total $4 million haul, 57 percent comes from small individual contributions.

]]>The most (and least) popular candidates among small donorshttps://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/11/popular-candidates-4-small-donors/
Thu, 01 Nov 2018 15:41:17 +0000https://www.opensecrets.org/news/?p=28085Data from the Center for Responsive Politics reveals a large disparity between candidates that get contributions from small donors and those that don’t.

Bernie Sanders (I-VT) lead the small donor revolution during the 2016 election. He has continued it during his Senate re-election bid, collecting a candidate-high 77 percent of his funds from small donors. ( Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Data from the Center for Responsive Politics reveals a large disparity between candidates that get small contributions and those that don’t. While a handful of congressional candidates are getting more than half of their money from small donors, a much larger pool of candidates don’t get even one percent of their funds from the sought-after donor pool.

Candidates that aren’t in a tight race generally don’t get much from small donors, with some exceptions for those challenging particularly disliked incumbents. Wealthy self-funders and third-party candidates fare particularly badly among small donors.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) dominates the Senate field, collecting more than 77 percent of his nearly $10 million from small individual contributions.

Another progressive, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), comes in second among Senators, collecting nearly 56 percent of her $34 million haul from small donors. She hasn’t spent much of it — she still has $14 million cash on hand for a potential presidential run.

Republican Senate candidate Corey Stewart bucks the trend by collecting the nearly 50 percent of his money from small donors, the third-highest rate. Though he is expected to lose handily to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), he’s gotten nearly $1.2 million through small donors.

Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) has pulled in the most money in total — nearly $32 million — from small donors. Nobody else comes close to that number. In total, O’Rourke has raised just under $70 million.

This cycle, 11 House candidates collected more than half of their funds from small donors.

Omar Navarro is almost guaranteed to lose to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and has raised less than $1 million in total, but a candidate-high 71 percent of his fundraising comes from small donors.

With more than $5.7 million in small donations, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) has raised more from small donors than any general election House candidate. His raised profile as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee appears to have helped his campaign cash — he’s raised $11.6 million this cycle, up from less than $2.5 million in 2016.

Nineteen of the top 25 House candidates among small donor percentage are Democrats.

The least popular

Men make up each of the bottom 10 Senate and House candidates among small donor percentage.

The list of worst-performing House candidates is dominated by those anticipated to either win or lose their race, as donors turn their attention to high-profile races.

Several House candidates pulled less than one percent of their fundraising haul from small donors. That includes candidates like Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Maryland 6th District Democrat David Trone, who has poured a record $16 million into his own campaign.

Republican New Jersey challenger Bob Hugin is the least popular Senate candidate of the non-independents, with 0.6 percent of his campaign funds coming from small donors. He’s raised nearly $200,000 from small donors, but it’s dwarfed by $27.5 million in self-financing.

]]>Senate candidates pour millions into their own competitive raceshttps://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/10/senate-candidates-pour-millions-into-their-campaigns/
Thu, 18 Oct 2018 19:32:19 +0000https://www.opensecrets.org/news/?p=27904It’s crunch time for Senate hopefuls, and in competitive races, wealthy candidates are reaching into their own wallets to gain a cash advantage.

]]>It’s crunch time for Senate hopefuls, and in competitive races, wealthy candidates are reaching into their own wallets to gain a cash advantage.

Rick Scott (via Twitter)

Rick Scott leads the self-financing pack in his race to unseat Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). Scott loaned himself a whopping $18 million in the third quarter, bringing his total self-contributions to nearly $39 million this cycle.

This level of self-financing hasn’t been seen in a Senate race since 2012 when Linda McMahon — now head of the Small Business Administration — poured $49 million into her unsuccessful campaign for Chris Murphy’s Connecticut Senate seat. She spent $100 million between two campaigns for Senate in 2010 and 2012.

Scott, the current Governor of Florida, has self-funded more than 70 percent of his campaign, spending $52 million as of the most recent filing deadline. He’s getting support from New Republican PAC, which has spent $16.8 million opposing Nelson. While Scott’s campaign is forbidden from coordinating with the Super PAC, the two are closely-tied.

Nelson, a three-term incumbent, raised $25 million through the first three quarters and has $8.5 million cash on hand. He and Scott are effectively tied in the polls up to this point.

Phil Bredesen (via Twitter)

In another toss-up race, this time for Bob Corker’s vacated Senate seat in Tennessee, Phil Bredesen poured $2 million into his campaign last quarter. The former Governor of Tennessee has now shelled out than $5.5 million in his race against Rep. Marsha Blackburn.

If not for Bredesen’s cash, he would be outraised by Blackburn, who’s pulled in $2.3 million from PAC contributions.

Outside groups are heavily targeting the crucial Senate seat. Nearly $30 million has been spent in opposition to Bredesen and $14 million against Blackburn.

]]>Democratic House candidates raise $250 million in third quarter, double up GOPhttps://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/10/dem-candidates-double-up-gop-third-quarter/
Wed, 17 Oct 2018 16:43:10 +0000https://www.opensecrets.org/news/?p=27856In a stunning, record-setting third quarter, Democratic candidates for U.S. House of Representatives raised nearly $250 million for their respective races.

In a stunning, record-setting third quarter, Democratic candidates for U.S. House of Representatives raised nearly $250 million for their respective races.

That number, estimated by the Center for Responsive Politics using Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, is significantly higher than the $178 million raised by Democratic House candidates last quarter, which was also a clear-cut record.

With an entire quarter remaining in the 2018 election cycle, Democratic candidates have raised approximately $876 million, a record for a congressional election cycle and nearly double the previous-highest amount raised by this point ($458 million in 2008).

Despite an incumbency advantage, Republican candidates were more than doubled in fundraising, collecting nearly $111 million from July through September. That figure is slightly down from the $117 million brought in last quarter.

Still, Republican House candidates are on pace to set a fundraising record of their own for a single election cycle, having raised $597 million through the first three quarters. The previous-highest haul at this point was $554 million in 2012.

Combining all House candidates, they have brought in nearly $1.5 billion with another quarter yet to be recorded and with some filings yet to be accounted for. By this point in 2016, candidates raised $919 million and ended the cycle with just over $1 billion.

]]>House candidates look to break fundraising records again in third quarterhttps://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/10/house-candidates-break-fundraising-records-3rd-quarter/
Thu, 11 Oct 2018 20:33:44 +0000https://www.opensecrets.org/news/?p=27784Candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives are raking in unprecedented amounts of money and breaking fundraising records.

Democrat Danny O’Connor, candidate for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, raised over $6 million between July and September (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives are raking in unprecedented amounts of money.

Third-quarter fundraising numbers — which include money contributed to candidates in June through September — must be filed with the Federal Election Commission by Oct. 15. However, that hasn’t stopped dozens of House candidates from releasing their impressive numbers early.

Fundraising for Democratic House candidates appears to be hotter than ever. More than 60 Democratic House candidates raised more than $1 million in the third quarter, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) Chairman Ben Ray Lujan announced last week.

Several Democratic candidates reported third-quarter hauls that broke records in their respective districts, including Danny O’Connor in Ohio’s 12th District ($6 million) — which included his special election — Amy McGrath in Kentucky’s 6th ($3.65 million) and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey’s 11th ($2.6 million). All three candidates raised significantly more in the third quarter than in either of the first two.

“We don’t have all of the numbers yet, but this democratic House fundraising is just off the charts,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “Looking back at 2016, the biggest third-quarter was $1.6 million to Zephyr Teachout.”

Democrats have benefitted from ActBlue, an online fundraising service that raked in more than $385 million for Democratic candidates in the third quarter. Even Democrats in likely-red districts have raised large amounts of money, such as Andrew Janz, who reported raising $4.3 million in the quarter in his race to take California’s 22nd District from Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).

Select Republican candidates have announced big earnings, too. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) reported raising $4.8 million in the third quarter — more than the $3.56 million he raised throughout the entire 2016 cycle.

“Usually if a candidate has a good number to announce they’ll give it in advance,” Kondik said, adding that most Republican candidates are posting fine numbers that would look great in any other election cycle.

Rep. Kevin Yoder (R-Kan.), for example, raised a solid $1.1 million in his re-election bid for Kansas’ 3rd District seat, but his opponent Sharice Davids reported a $2.7 million haul — significantly more than the $344,704she raised through the first two quarters.

House candidates on both sides easily set records for fundraising in both the first and second quarters last year, but Democratic candidates came out on top.